A blog by Roger Price
I am writing this almost exactly one year on from my appointment as Managing Director of TTA, and I know it is a cliché to say this, but what a year it has been!
Although I had been a director of TTA for seven months when I was appointed MD, due to the role I had been doing, I didn’t really appreciate of the quality and calibre of the team I was set to lead. Twelve months on, that’s all changed. In that time, no quality or disciplinary issues have reached my desk, whenever I meet with clients, they are effusive in their praise for our standards of delivery, and we have grown substantially this year and that growth has been driven by the confidence that our team inspires in our clients through their faultless execution. In short, I inherited a team of truly dedicated professionals, and all the team members, including the fantastic talent that has joined us during the year, have delivered beyond my expectations.
Building On Our Special Culture
Not only did I inherit an exceptional team, but I also inherited an exceptional culture which is deep set in the DNA of TTA and stems from its origins as a family business. At TTA kindness and respect are to the fore, all team members are supportive of one another, everybody feels empowered and valued, and nobody feels that they are just a number. Understandably, many feared that when I was appointed that I would change this culture, but nothing could have been further from the truth. It was clear to me from the outset that TTA’s culture was special, that it motivated the team and it has been a major factor in our ability to recruit many talented event professionals throughout the year. So, I have worked hard to build on this cultural heritage, and my ambition is that TTA becomes recognised as the employer of choice in the events industry. This remains work in progress, but we have a range of new initiatives that we will launch over the coming months.
Driving Innovation
Something I often tell people outside the industry is how challenging it is to deliver a successful event. There are so many moving parts, so many risk factors and often so many stakeholders with different opinions. Our job as a specialist event agency is manage all these moving parts, mitigate the risk factors and help manage the stakeholders. But as MD of TTA I am always asking myself how can we do an even better job? How can we innovate to change the way events are delivered? It didn’t take me long to realise that one area where TTA can deliver real change is in digital innovation. This realisation came through the development of our Congress Cloud platform, which is an online travel and accommodation booking tool for healthcare professionals attending major congresses. The overwhelming success of this project this year, and the efficiencies it delivered to a major pharmaceutical company, made me realise that when we combine our deep-rooted event experience with a capable and agile software development team, then magic really can happen! Congress Cloud proved that as an agency we are perfectly capable of developing transformational products that deliver real change to our clients. As a result, we are now working to build a stronger partnership with our development team, and we are planning to launch a wider range of products that will transform key elements of event delivery. I am very excited by the future of this part of our business – watch this space.
The Future’s Looking Bright
In summary, my first year as MD of TTA has been hugely rewarding and enjoyable, and I feel privileged to be at the head of such a fabulous company. Through the commitment and dedication of the entire team, TTA has grown substantially this year, and I fully expect this level of growth to continue through 2026, which I know will bring change and new challenges. But with growth comes opportunity; our growth will mean we will be able to develop and improve our portfolio of services, recruit more of the most talented event and creative professionals and secure exciting new clients. But most of all I feel that our continued growth will enable us to really build on our reputation as a world-class full-service events agency that truly values and empowers its people. In my opinion, TTA has a very bright future.